While
it is almost customary for arrested drug couriers to claim ignorance and
innocence, Ifeoma Peace Okoye did not. She claimed she was aware of her actions
and consequences. Why then did she do it?

In
her thirty years on earth, Ifeoma Peace Okoye had really gone through hell.
Whether in the hands of many Nigerian men, who promised heaven and earth to
have her hand in marriage and would later dump her, or from the hands of
cunning family members who would not let her have access to her parents’
property even after they were dead, Okoye had not been at peace for the most
part of her life. At the moment, it appears the peace she craved for is moving
father from her than she would imagine.

Okoye
hailed from Enugu-Ukwu in Anambra State, but grew up at Anifowoshe Street, in
Shomolu area of Lagos State. Okoye enrolled at the Honeycomb Primary School and
Morocco Comprehensive High School, both at same Shomolu area of Lagos State.

In
a bid to secure funds to make her overseas travel, Okoye got entangled with some
society men in Lagos who offered to be of assistance to her Bangladesh tour.
Okoye was assured of being financed for her proposed tour, but with a proviso
that she courier drugs for the cartel. Desperate as she was, she agreed to the
terms of the drug cartel. When the time for her to travel with the banned
substance drew near, Okoye got all assurances from her sponsors that all the
news of arrests of drug peddlers at the airport were hoaxes after all and that
she would have a smooth passage.

On
the fateful night, Okoye set for the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in
Ikeja, Lagos where she was scheduled to board a Qatar Airline flight to
Bangladesh enroute Doha. Having arrived the airport several hours before her
flight was due to jet out of Lagos, Okoye took her time to study the various
travelling formalities at the airport, and probably convinced herself that all
would be well, she proceeded to the departure area of the airport when
passengers enroute Doha were called for boarding.

During
routine checks at the luggage check-in desk, the preying eyes of the National
Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) fished her luggage out and subjected its
owner, Okoye, to further checks. It was later discovered that Okoye’s luggage
was laden with 2.5kg of substances that tested positive to methamphetamine. She
was immediately taken to custody for further interrogation. She later
revealed her sponsors and where they operate from in Lagos Island. She claimed
this was the first time she had been involved in the illicit trade.

Okoye,
described by NDLEA Airport Commander Mr. Hamza Umar, as the ‘first suspect
going to Bangladesh this year’, begins the story of her journey into the drug
world thus, “It is true I knew that I was carrying the drugs in my bag. I used
to sell female shoes and hand bags to sustain myself. I have been trading since
year 2000 that I completed my secondary school. When my mother died and I am
not married, I thought it was better to seek greener pastures outside the
country. I fell into wrong hands because they were the people financing my
trip. Smuggling the drug was the conditions attached to their getting me the
travel document”, she said amid tears.

Continuing
Okoye, who claimed she now regrets her action, maintained that she got all
assurances from her principals that all would be well at the airport, says,
“The man that gave me the bag containing the drug assured me that I will have
an easy passage. He assured me that the drug will not be detected and that
people carry drugs for them regularly. It did not occur to me that I was being
deceived. The man prepared my travel documents and convinced me into smuggling
the drug. My intention was to go and seek greener pastures in Bangladesh but
right now, I do not know what to do”, she said.

Chairman
of the NDLEA, Ahmadu Giade, however warned that people should be careful of the
tricks of drug barons. His words, “Giving assurances that drug traffickers will
not be arrested by narcotic agents is not new. It is an old trick used to
deceive gullible victims by drug barons. Members of the public should be
careful not to allow themselves to be used by these enemies of progress. One
wrong step can ruin an entire destiny, Giade cautioned". Mitchell Ofoyeju,
spokesman for NDLEA, said that Okoye will be charged to court soon.